S317 Anchors
by ZenosParadox
Summary: RS, Ma. Reed and Sato rely on their anchors when their Captain deconstructs. Missing Scenes for Hatchery, Episode 17 Season 3.


Title: Anchors (MS: Hatchery) Author: ZenosParadox Rating: PG  
  
Summary: RS, Ma. Reed and Sato rely on their anchors when their Captain deconstructs. Missing Scenes for Hatchery, Episode 17 Season 3.   
  
Notes: Mild spoilers for Hatchery. Written February 26, 2004. Disclaimer: The characters belong to Paramount. This fiction was written solely for personal enjoyment.  
  
ANCHORS   
  
Ensign Hoshi Sato was stunned by her Captain's words. Jonathan Archer had removed T'Pol and now he was going after the next person who was the voice of reason on their missions. She wanted to cry out that Enterprise had been threatened by the Xindi vessel, but a part of her knew that silence was at times the best strategy.   
  
Lieutenant Malcolm Reed was living his worst nightmare. He felt his sense of reality falling away from him at the Captain's pronouncement. He needed an anchor, a sign that he was not losing his mind. He turned to her and worried that he would see pity in her eyes at his humiliation.  
  
Sato felt Reed's eyes turn to her. She refused to hide her disbelief and even let some of her own rage at the Captain's actions appear in her eyes. She knew Reed would see her hands clenched on her knee. She let him see the barest shake of her head. The one thing she wanted to convey was, "You were right; the Captain is wrong."  
  
Reed put an immediate damper on his emotions once he got the reality check from Sato. He did not want to put the mission in further jeopardy by having more senior officers confined to quarters and he knew Sato had her own breaking point. He straightened his shoulders and left the bridge.  
  
-----  
  
Reed entered his quarters and walked immediately to the computer console. He had to have faith that he did not misread Sato's nonverbal message.   
  
Still, he put his head into his hands as he re-lived the scene on the bridge. Every failure in his life could not compete with the sense of degradation he had felt as his duty to this ship had been stripped away. Even his father's worse tirades had not wounded his pride and sense of self this deeply.  
  
Malcolm looked at the blank screen and felt weary. Perhaps it had all been in his mind. Why would Hoshi side with him instead of the Captain? Malcolm released a deep breath, but then heard the beep from his console.   
  
INCOMING MESSAGE  
  
At least I know my stash of Andorian ale is safe  
  
Malcolm laughed as he remembered pilfering her supply after his fight with Hayes. The two men had agreed to put the fight behind them, but building trust took more than a shared drink. He responded:  
  
How is the translation going?  
  
I'm still being very thorough and time consuming as you advised earlier  
  
Good  
  
I'm supposed to transmit distress call  
  
Not good. Notify Trip about that  
  
Will do  
  
Keep an eye on Hayes  
  
He's not my type, but if you insist  
  
Malcolm chuckled at Hoshi's quick comeback.  
  
Relay communications through Phlox in medbay  
  
I can handle it here on the bridge  
  
No, too dangerous for you. Need you to watch  
  
Acknowledged  
  
And thank you  
  
Major Hayes scanned the bridge and noticed that Ensign Sato at the comm station was smiling. She was apparently satisfied with the turn of events. He sat back and tried to relax. The Captain's chair was not as comfortable as it appeared.  
  
-----  
  
After the successful mutiny and confining the MACOs to quarters, Reed was about to step into his own cabin when he was suddenly pushed against the door.   
  
"You can run, but you can't hide, Lieutenant," said Mayweather as he held the man's arms behind his back firmly.  
  
Reed threw a puzzled look over his shoulder to find that Mayweather's accomplice was overriding the security code to his quarters. Sato threw him a delighted smirk and quirked her eyebrow as the door flew open. Only Mayweather's grasp kept the Lieutenant from falling flat on his face.  
  
"Ensigns, what is this about?" demanded Reed in his Superior Officer tone of voice.  
  
"Andorian ale and munchies. This time you're the host," said Travis as he released Malcolm's arms and threw himself comfortably onto the small sofa.  
  
Hoshi sauntered past with the bag draped over one shoulder that contained fruit, cheese and bread, but the prize awaited. She finally held the bottle of ale and jiggled the container so that the liquid sloshed around a bit.   
  
"Where are you glasses? You get to serve since we're in your quarters." Hoshi's voice was muffled as she rummaged for a clean towel in Malcolm's closet.  
  
"I'm being invaded," grumbled Malcolm heavenward, but he was soon scrounging around for glasses.   
  
"Better us than Xindi insectiods," called Travis. Hoshi tossed him a towel and set the bag of food down so he could spread out the feast on the small table. Travis noticed that Hoshi went back to hovering awfully closely to Malcolm as he poured the drinks. The helmsman just settled back to enjoy the show. His two friends were a constant source of amusement to him.  
  
Hoshi was actually making little clicking noises just to annoy Malcolm.  
  
"Stop that or you won't get your drink."  
  
"It's my ale," reminded Hoshi with a charming pout. She added one last click just to be especially obnoxious.  
  
"Fine, but can't you sound more like a cicada or a cricket?" asked Malcolm.  
  
Hoshi immediately provided the cricket sound effects as she grabbed two glasses. "Crickets are my specialty. Recognize it?"  
  
"That's the rhythm the crickets in England would make. My father tried to get me to catch them so I could join him in his hobby."  
  
"Don't hobbiest typically pin the insect--"  
  
"I was a complete failure at being an amateur entymologist. I preferred the crickets alive and chirping."  
  
Hoshi nodded her approval, then she sat in the rolling chair by the computer, and propelled herself expertly to Travis to hand him his drink. Malcolm was impressed that she had missed slamming into the food table. He gauged the bottle and wondered if she had taken a nip earlier.  
  
"Good Lord, the woman is hyper," observed Malcolm as he got his own glass and pulled up the other chair to sit by his colleagues. Hoshi immediately propped her ankles on his lap.  
  
"Being confined to quarters is better than sitting for hours on the bridge glued to your post. I couldn't get up to use the bathroom without permission," she groaned.  
  
"Perhaps you can spare me the details," said Malcolm.  
  
"Oh, no, you can't imagine all the complaining I had to read from the notes coming to my console." Travis pointed to Hoshi. "You better hope no one ever gets a hold of that transcript."  
  
At this point the party was interrupted by a call to Reed's quarters. "Malcolm, is Travis with you? I need his help with the Xindi shuttle."  
  
Travis groaned at the sound of Trip's voice, but answered. "I'll be right there, Commander. I think I know the problem."  
  
"We'll save you some ale. Stop by later," said Malcolm as Travis said goodbye. He heard Hoshi echo his words, but then a comfortable silence filled the room.  
  
Hoshi stretched her arms over her head as she sighed. "I was left out of the action again."  
  
"I think Travis had a better chance of tackling Hayes than you did. Of course, if you really want to get physical with the man, I suppose there's nothing to stop you," added Malcolm. The thought brought an immediate frown to his face, although he didn't understand why.  
  
"Don't worry, Malcolm, you're the only military type I can handle," said Hoshi.  
  
"I'm not, well, actually, I suppose you're right." Malcolm then chuckled. "Did I tell you Hayes actually pulled a gun on the corpses of the Xindi insectiods we brought back to the ship?"  
  
Hoshi began giggling. "And here we've been calling you overly cautious." Hoshi's voice became serious. "Do you think he'll learn?"  
  
Malcolm absently patted the leg that was on his lap. "We've all had to learn how to deal with gray areas of the mission." He turned to look directly at Hoshi. "It felt good to know I could count on you--and the others, too, of course."  
  
"Defying Hayes' orders was easy. I was dying to do something, anything, show my true colors."  
  
"You never doubted that we were wrong?" asked Malcolm.  
  
"Drastic situations call for drastic measures. If it had just been T'Pol or Trip, I'm not sure I would have been as steadfast." Hoshi gave Malcolm a light smile. "But I've learned to trust you to gauge the situation to protect the crew. You're my anchor that way."  
  
As you are mine, thought Malcolm. The officers raised their drinks and clinked their glasses in a silent toast.   
  
  
  
Thanks for reading. No reviews are necessary. 


End file.
